Critic’s Picks

Pride of place for summer dance 2001 belongs to a new company formed by Twyla Tharp, a prime innovator and one of the only living choreographers who has become nearly a household word.

On June 21 and 22, the new incarnation of her Twyla Tharp Dance performs “Surfer on the River Styx” and “Mozart Clarinet K 581” in the Ahmanson Theatre. On June 23 and 24, the repertory changes to “Gross Sonata Opus 106 Hammerklavier” and a world premiere to be announced. Tharp isn’t dancing this time around but will talk to the audience after every performance.

Led and staffed by former Kirov luminaries, the Universal Ballet of Korea shows its admirable unanimity of style in “La Bayadere” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion July 20-22. Moreover, the company is also dancing “Shim Chung,” an endearing story ballet infused with traditional Korean culture, July 23 and 24.

You want star ballerinas? The Orange County Performing Arts Center has them in the engagement by Milan’s venerable La Scala Ballet, with Alessandra Ferri playing “Carmen” on a split bill with “Amarcord” July 10-12, and Sylvie Guillem leading the cast in her controversial new staging of “Giselle” July 13-15.

Local companies usually receive major summer exposure in the Dance Kaleidoscope series. Not this year. Due to a power vacuum, Kaleidoscope is down to one token night, at the Japan America Theatre on July 21. Picking up the slack: the annual L.A. Dance Invitational charity benefit at the Wilshire Ebell on June 2 and the newly revived FeetSpeak Dance Festival at the Alex Theatre on Aug. 25 and 26.

However, based on past projects by UCLA’s groundbreaking Asia Pacific Performance Exchange, the summer’s class act is likely to be “Creating Across Cultures: An APPEX Experience” on June 9 at the Japan America Theatre, with Thai, Chinese, Indonesian and North American artists pursuing new strategies to link ancient disciplines.